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Table of Contents - July
2010
Feature Article: Cooking With Kids
Parenting Tip: Get More Organized with These Great Lists
Upcoming Classes: New Series! Raise a Responsible Child
A Good Read: How to Get Your Kid to Eat: But Not Too Much
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Cooking with Kids
A funny thing
happened when I brought home some cookbooks
from the library. My kids started cooking
more.
We have over 50 cookbooks in the cupboard,
but a book called, “Teens Cook: How to Cook
What You Want to Eat” caught the attention
of our 10-year-old and 14-year-old.
Two things seemed to attract them to the
book. It’s written for kids and the idea of
“cooking what you want to eat” resonated
with them.
One day our 10-year-old had a friend over
and they spent three hours creating fruit
kabobs, cinnamon sticks, jelly rolls, mint
goodies and a blue fruit drink complete with
sugar around the rim. Their creative juices
were flowing as they happily presented the
food on colorful platters in their aprons.
Our teenager prepared chilled strawberry
soup and “Texas Caviar” salad for a party we
had. Her pride was evident as the accolades
rolled in and she was able to say, “I made
it.”
Strawberry crepes are up next on the menu
and I can’t wait!
Inviting our kids into the kitchen can be
nerve-racking. They spill things. They drop
things. The counters are a mess. The floor
gets sticky. It takes longer. But the
benefits that come from cooking outweigh the
hassles when you’re not on a tight timeline.
One advantage is that kids are more likely
to try foods that they’ve helped prepare. It
gives them ownership. If you have a picky
eater, involving them in the selection of a
recipe and preparation of the food can often
entice them to try a new food.
Learning how properties interact together
expands their science skills (baking soda
and vinegar explosions anyone?) Reading
recipes sharpens their reading and
organizational skills and adding ingredients
provides hands-on math skills.
Sometimes after a long day at work cooking
together can be a great way to connect while
your child is washing the lettuce and you’re
preparing an entree.
Kids who are involved in meal planning and
food preparation develop essential life
skills.
Beth Weiss, a single mom who raised five
children, thought of meal time as a time to
connect and have fun with her kids. Her goal
was to have each of her kids help plan and
prepare one meal a week. They also grew a
vegetable garden together and each child was
responsible for taking care of a portion of
the garden.
Guess what? Her kids love vegetables and
feel confident preparing meals as adults.
Without the stress of homework, summer time
is a great time to introduce your child to
the kitchen.
One mom I know has her kids play
“restaurant.” The child gets to pick the
items on the menu for that meal, add them to
the grocery list and help prepare the meal.
Here are a few resources if you’d like to
get started cooking with your kids:
The book my kids liked is, “Teens Cook: How
to Cook What You Want to Eat” by Megan and
Jill Carle.
A fun website called
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org
has a great database on fruit and vegetable
recipes, activities for kids and even videos
to learn about fun ways to add these
critical nutrients to menus. Your child will
learn more about nutrition with hands-on
experience than just reading about nutrition
in health class.
Parenting Press recommends a book called,
“Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have
Fun with Food” created by Sharon Payette
Seip and Kelly Parthen. The authors run a
children’s cooking school.
Family Fun magazine has 10-pages of
great recipes to make with your child here:
http://
http://www.familyfun.go.com/recipes/cooking-with-kids
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Coming Soon! Raise
a Responsible Child Series
I’ll be offering a
new series of classes starting in August that
will include:
-
How to Win the
Chore Wars;
-
Creating a
Mindset for Success in Your Child;
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Reducing
Homework Hassles;
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Money Matters:
Teach Your Child the Value of a Buck; and
-
EQ: Raise Your
Child’s Emotional Intelligence.
We’ll have two
meetings a month; one parent education class and
one trouble-shooting session to help you
implement what you’ve learned, chart your
progress and problem-solve any concerns.
Look for details in mid-July.
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Parenting Tip
Get More Organized with
These Great Lists
Creating lists can
help you accomplish more, manage your time more
efficiently, reduce your stress and keep track
of details. Putting lists together takes time,
though.
The founder of
www.listbean.com has done all of the hard
work for you.
Over 100 lists are available for your use. There
are lists on what to stock in your medicine
cabinet, how to add spark to your relationship,
budgeting, party planning and more.
The great thing is you can personalize the lists
if you’d like, too.
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A Good Read
Each month a parent
provides a review of a parenting book they've
enjoyed. Please e-mail
toni@familiesfirstcoaching.com to share a good
read with other parents.
“How
to Get Your Kid to Eat: But Not Too Much”
By Ellyn Satter
“As a Registered Dietitian, I have used the concepts
in this book to help parents transform their feeding
relationships with their kids! It is best to read
this book before you even have children or when they
are very young and problems haven't started yet, but
if you pick it up out of desperation, that's OK, too
- the concepts here are a great relief for many
parents: It is not up to you to get the food into
the mouth of the child! As long as you are doing
your part of providing consistent, reasonably
balanced meals, your child will do the rest and eat
what he/she needs. In fact, when you end the
begging/pleading/bribing of the child to eat, they
will end up eating better in the long run! The
concepts in this book, when consistently applied,
lead to a much more relaxed mealtime, less struggle
over food between parent/child, and in my opinion,
ultimately help the child achieve and maintain a
healthy weight and healthy relationship with food.”
Melinda Books
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Toni Schutta, Publisher, Families First Coaching Newsletter
Toni Schutta is a Parent Coach with a Master's
Degree in Psychology and 16 years experience working
with children and families. She's also the mother of
two wonderful children, a Licensed Psychologist, a
certified graduate of the Mentor Coach Foundations
Program, a member of The Parent Coaches Association,
an author, speaker and past radio host.
Families First Coaching
is an organization devoted to building strong
families by empowering parents with practical
information, easy-to-use tools and helpful resources
that will help you be the best parent possible.
Individual parent coaching sessions are available
along with parent-to-parent support groups and
parent education classes. Check out the websites at
http://www.familiesfirstcoaching.com and
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com for a
complete list of services. |
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